英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

acid (adj.)[acid 词源字典]: 1620s, "of the taste of vinegar," from French acide (16c.) or directly from Latin acidus "sour, sharp," adjective of state from acere "to be sour," from PIE root *ak- "sharp, pointed" (see acrid). Figurative use from 1775; applied to intense colors from 1916. Acid test is American English, 1892, from the frontier days, when gold was distinguished from similar metals by application of nitric acid. Acid rain is first recorded 1859 in reference to England.[acid etymology, acid origin, 英语词源]
aqua fortis (n.): old name for "concentrated nitric acid," c. 1600, Latin, literally "strong water;" see aqua- + fort. So called for its power of dissolving metals (copper, silver) unaffected by other agents.
nitric (adj.): 1794, originally in reference to acid obtained initially from distillation of saltpeter; see nitre + -ic. Perhaps immediately from French nitrique. Known as aqua fortis, later acid spirit of nitre, then nitric acid. (1787) under the system ordered by Lavoisier.
nitro-: before vowels nitr-, word-forming element used scientifically and indicating "nitrogen, nitrate" or "nitric acid," from comb. form of Greek nitron (see nitre).
acid test: "A conclusive test of the success or value of something", Figuratively, from the original use denoting a test for gold using nitric acid.
quartation: "The addition of silver to a mixture of gold and silver until the proportions are about one to three, at which point it becomes possible to remove all the silver using nitric acid", Early 17th cent.; earliest use found in John Woodall (1570–1643), surgeon. From post-classical Latin quartation-, quartatio from classical Latin quartus fourth + -ātiō.